'Allow markets to function': IMF, World Bank urge countries to keep trade open amid Covid

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) on Sunday called on countries to keep trade open as the world battles the Coronavirus pandemic and warned that export controls on medical supplies and other essentials could backfire.

'Not a time to restrict trade of medical supplies'

At a virtual press conference during the just-concluded spring meetings of the two multilateral institutions, IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath said that this is not a time to restrict the trade of medical supplies and essential equipment around the world, according to news agency Xinhua.

"It is very important that this does not become a future where we reverse all the gains that we've got from globalization," said Gopinath, in response to a question from Xinhua.

World Bank President David Malpass, meanwhile, said at a virtual press conference on Friday that big countries need to step forward and pledge not to use the crisis as a reason to close or block the markets.

"We should allow markets to function, markets to clear and the supplies to go to those most in need," said Malpass, adding that China is exporting medical supplies to the rest of the world, which is "very welcome."

The IMF and World Bank's advocacy for free trade came as protectionist sentiments are growing across the globe amid the pandemic. Some 46 export curbs on medical supplies have been introduced by 54 governments since the beginning of the year, according to a report published on March 23 by Global Trade Alert, a trade policy monitoring initiative.

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Thirty-three of those export curbs have been announced since the beginning of March, "an indication of just how quickly new trade limits are spreading across the globe," the report showed. Aaditya Mattoo, the Chief Economist for East Asia and the Pacific Region at the World Bank, said it is a bit understandable for countries to impose export restrictions, but these actions are "almost always counterproductive".

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The worldwide death toll from the novel Coronavirus pandemic rose to 160,685 on Sunday, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP.

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More than 23,34,130 declared cases have been registered in 193 countries and territories since the epidemic first emerged in China in December. Of these cases, at least 518,900 are now considered recovered. In the United States, now the worst-hit country, the death toll stood at 39,090 with 735,287 infections. At least 66,819 patients have recovered.

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(With agency inputs)